E-cigarettes: A message from the OCSA

The Government of Ontario is currently studying e-cigarette regulations as part of the Smoke-Free Ontario Act review.

We believe that e-cigarettes should be held to the same high regulatory retail standards as all smoking-related products. If they are not, it will create a two-tiered regulatory structure that will allow certain retailers, like e-cigarette specialty stores, to openly display e-cigarettes and allow product trials.

Other interests continue to lobby the government for relaxed standards around marketing and promotion of e-cigarettes. To ensure that the government hears from retailers, we are beginning a program to contact the Premier of Ontario and the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care through a media and letter writing campaign.

The government is expected to provide its decision in the fall. Given the short timeline, we would appreciate your participation in our campaign by mobilizing your people.

Why should you participate?

Convenience retailers work hard to ensure employees are trained to properly comply with the Smoke-Free Ontario Act. If the government chooses to create separate regulations for e-cigarettes, other types of retailers would have the opportunity to promote, advertise, and give samples of these products. Not only would this be inconsistent with the spirit of the Smoke-Free Ontario Act, but it would also have the potential to cause economic harm for convenience stores.

Given the other challenges our industry faces from increasing hydro and labour costs, we need your help to ensure that the regulations for e-cigarettes are consistent with those of other smoking and tobacco products.

Tweet: Follow our twitter handle: @RegulateVaping. Share our website, Tweet about the campaign, and tag us to get the word out there!

Get your people involved: We’ve prepared a letter template for you to send to your associates and other interested parties outlining the campaign and ways to get involved. We encourage everyone to participate. Access the letter template on the OCSA website here.

This is an important issue and we need your help promoting this campaign. Please feel free to contact us, should you have any questions or concerns.